by Tami Lund
“I’ve read a great many books about the various magical species,” he explained. “Unlike so many of our kind, I think it’s wise to have at least a base understanding of people different from ourselves. And I can tell you without a single doubt that there is nothing written in the history books about Lightbearers and shifters mating.”
“Well, it happened, just a few months ago,” Cecilia said, bristling and preparing to defend her cousin.
Finn pressed his hand against the small of her back. Magic sizzled between them, but he ruthlessly pushed away the immediate sexual thoughts. Not the time or place.
“The Lightbearer king recognizes them as a mated couple,” Finn supplied. “But you’re right: we’re all just sort of waiting to see what will happen with this pup. It will be the heir to the Lightbearer kingdom.”
Just as he predicted, his parents were both intrigued by that bit of information.
“A shifter, ruling the Lightbearer kingdom?” his mother mused.
“Actually, a half shifter, half Lightbearer,” Cecilia corrected her.
His mother looked down her nose at Cecilia. “Yes, well, we all know which species is the top of the food chain.”
Finn curled his fingers into the back of Cecilia’s dress, to keep her from doing something stupid, like get into his mother’s face about her opinions on who was or was not at the top of the food chain.
“Grammy, Pappy, come watch me ride my bike,” Austin called from the kitchen. He darted out of sight, and a moment later, they caught a glimpse of him through the living room windows, shooting down the street on his bicycle.
“We don’t have sidewalks,” Felicia said as she hurried out the front door. “I can’t leave him out there alone.”
The rest of the entourage followed. While they stood in the front yard as Austin pedaled his miniature bike up and down the street, Finn’s mother gave Cecilia another cool look. He reached out and fisted the back of Cecilia’s dress again, and called out his mother on her poor manners.
Which felt weird. But he did it anyway.
“Mom, Cecilia and Dane are guests here. Maybe we could try being nice?”
“Yes,” Cecilia added. “Maybe we could.”
His mother narrowed her eyes and glared. Finn gave the dress a tug, and Cecilia stumbled backward. He let go of her dress and stepped between the two women, squaring off against his mother.
“If you can’t be nice, we’re leaving,” he warned her. He cupped Cecilia’s elbow. Magic flared around his hand. His mother’s eyes widened.
“What was that?” she demanded, staring at his hand.
“Nothing,” he muttered.
“Magic,” Cecilia quipped. “We have a lot of it.”
Finn rolled his eyes. “Knock it off, Cecilia.”
“She started it.”
“What? Are you five?”
She pouted. Finn wanted to kiss her. A smile tugged at his mother’s lips. He could feel his dad watching him, knew the wheels were turning in his far-too-intelligent brain.
“Don’t even…” he started, but his mother cut him off.
“I like her,” she announced, as if someone had asked a question.
“She’s different,” his father added.
“She can’t help that,” his mother replied.
“Hey,” Cecilia protested. Magic flared around his hand again.
“Finn, we’re out on the street,” Felicia said as she wrung her hands and her gaze darted back and forth, taking in the nearest houses. “There are humans who live in this neighborhood,” she hissed.
After a moment’s hesitation, Finn deliberately stepped away from Cecilia, distancing himself so as to keep the magical flares to a minimum. He wasn’t sure why her magic sparked whenever he touched her, but he knew he did not want to take the chance that a human would notice.
His parents turned, as if they intended to head up the front walk and into the house. Before they could take three steps, however, magic flared again. This time, it wasn’t coming from Cecilia or Dane. Finn looked around, searching for the source.
Samuel leaped out from behind a nearby arborvitae, wearing the faintly medieval attire many male Lightbearers still insisted on wearing and holding a glowing sword in his hand.
“Leave her be,” he called out, waving the weapon. “Let her go and I shall not harm you. I have given you ample warning.”
“Samuel?” Cecilia said in a disbelieving voice.
“Let her go,” Samuel demanded, glaring at Finn.
Finn bared his teeth and growled.
“Samuel, what in the name of the lights are you doing here?” Dane asked. “And why have you summoned a sword?”
“The neighbors,” Felicia muttered. Ben wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tried to guide her into the house and away from potential danger. Finn’s parents simply stared at the strange sight. Bryan hung off the porch, pointing at the Lightbearer holding the sword and chattering excitedly. Austin raced his bike back up the street and came to a screeching halt so that he too could stare.
Finn pushed Cecilia toward Dane. “Watch her,” he commanded, and then he strode over to deal with the idiot Lightbearer.
Ultimately, there was nothing to deal with. As soon as Finn started walking toward him, Samuel released his magic, the sword disappeared, and he turned and ran the other way. Finn followed him to the end of the block and watched as he leaped over a row of low hedges and disappeared into someone’s backyard. He gave half a thought to chasing him, but he felt more of an urge to return to Cecilia’s side than to getting ahold of Samuel and knocking some sense into him. Besides, he was reasonably certain Samuel would be waiting for them when they returned to the coterie.
He headed back to the small group of shifters and Lightbearers who were still gathered on the front lawn outside Felicia and Ben’s house.
“You aren’t going back without me,” he snarled at Dane and Cecilia both. Dane didn’t say a word, Cecilia began sputtering incoherently, and Finn strode into the house.
Felicia followed him into Austin’s bedroom, which was where he had been storing his luggage while visiting. “What just happened out there?” she demanded. “Did I imagine it when I saw that guy carrying a sword—and then he wasn’t?”
“No.”
Felicia paused. Finn tossed clothes into his duffle bag.
“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to give me? No? What does that mean?”
Finn sighed and paused in his packing to face his sister. “It means I’m not going to talk about it.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to stress you out. It isn’t good for the pup.”
“Telling me you aren’t going to tell me something because it will stress me out stresses me out far more than just telling me,” Felicia pointed out.
Finn ground his teeth. He really didn’t want to pull his family into whatever the hell was happening with Cecilia.
“It can’t be as bad as living under Quentin Lyons’ rule,” she added in a softer voice.
“It’s not.” No, it wasn’t anything like living in Quentin’s pack. He finally ran his hand through his uncombed hair and said, “That guy was a Lightbearer, like Cecilia and Dane. When trained properly, they have the ability to conjure weapons, using their magic. Swords, bows and arrows. He’s actually one of the king’s guards.”
“And what was he doing here, with a sword in his hand?”
Damn good question. Unfortunately, Finn suspected he knew the answer. He rubbed a hand over his face and blew out a breath.
“I’m pretty sure that he figured out Cecilia was down here—with me—and he was either going to challenge me for her hand, or try to steal her away. Most of the Lightbearers tend to have this deeply engrained belief that they should never leave their coterie.” Most. But not Cecilia. She was her own unique person, standing out amongst the beautiful, blonde species.
Felicia rested her hands on top of her protruding belly. Her eyes softened. “
I assume the fact that he simply ran the other way means you won.”
Finn began packing again. “That just means he’s a pussy. And he sure as hell doesn’t deserve to mate with someone like Cecilia.”
“But you do.”
The words were like a physical blow to his gut. Him? Mate with…Cecilia? Cecilia the Lightbearer? Cecilia the pain in the ass? Cici?
“What I’m doing is taking her back to the coterie and dumping her on Tanner and Olivia’s doorstep. Whatever happens from there is up to them.”
Felicia seemed to understand that he did not want to talk about that topic any longer. “Are you coming back?” she asked instead.
“Sure. I’ll come back when you whelp this one. I want to laugh at Ben when he tries to figure out what the hell to do with a little girl.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
He didn’t respond.
“Your home is in that coterie.” Her words were soft, laced with sadness.
He didn’t answer her directly. Instead, he said, “It isn’t that far away.”
“No,” she said. “I suppose it isn’t.” She fell silent while he made quick work of packing the small amount of clothing he brought with him. It occurred to him that he’d never intended to stay, even when he first headed down here to see his sister and meet his two nephews. If he had, he sure as hell would have brought more clothing. And maybe that box of condoms tucked into the small drawer in the bedside table in his bedroom.
“Dad and Ben are talking about going searching for Reid. You’re the best tracker in the world, Finn. If you go with them, you’ll find him for sure.”
“Felicia, don’t do this.”
“Why not?”
He whirled around to face his sister. He caught a glimpse of his glowing eyes in the mirror. He stabbed his finger at the open doorway. “That guy came all the way to Tennessee because he’s obsessed with Cecilia. I can’t let her go back alone.”
Felicia cocked her head and studied her brother. “You’re choosing her over us, aren’t you?”
“I’m choosing my pack,” he ground out as he dragged the zipper closed on the duffel bag. As he said the words, he knew they were true. The coterie was his pack now, for better or worse. Tanner was his pack master. Cecilia was part of that pack, and it was his responsibility to ensure her safety. However else she fit into his life, well, that remained to be seen.
“I can visit anytime,” he said, his voice softening. “You can visit me, too, you know. You’d get a kick out of the coterie. Bring the kids in the winter, so they can enjoy the snow.”
As he tried to walk past her, Felicia pulled him into a hug. When she released him, she swiped tears from her eyes. “I’m glad you came to visit,” she said.
“Me too. I’ll be back. Soon. I’ll make sure my niece isn’t five before I meet her for the first time.”
Felicia gave him a watery smile.
* * * *
As she stood on the porch and watched twin bright red brake lights drive off into the distance, Felicia leaned her head on her mate’s shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her waist. Her mother sighed.
“My son found his mate.”
Felicia gave her mother a startled look. “You don’t really think…”
“A Lightbearer and a shifter,” her father murmured, sounding awed.
“Remember, the heir to the Lightbearer crown is going to be half shifter, half Lightbearer,” her mother pointed out.
“Yes, but Finn?” Felicia still could not picture it, despite the very obvious proof she had witnessed. “Although she did tend to glow more brightly whenever he touched her. Did you notice that?”
“How could we not? How about the way his eyes tracked her, all the time, no matter what else was going on?”
“She was doing the same thing.”
They all fell silent for a few minutes. Then her father commented, “I suppose your grandfather didn’t die in vain after all.”
They fell silent again, as they shuffled back into the house, to resume life as it was before Finn came to visit. With one small exception.
Felicia was already planning a trip to visit her brother and his new pack.
Chapter 11
Whatever transpired between them on that swing down in Tennessee disappeared by the time they reached the coterie. To be fair, it didn’t actually disappear until they were back inside the coterie. The ride back was uneventful, because Dane had no idea how to drive a vehicle, so Cecilia and Finn both drove separate trucks and were therefore unable to talk.
The arguing began after they parked the trucks inside the pole barn next to the beach house.
“You need to stay the hell away from that asshole,” Finn growled.
“You need to stop telling me what to do,” Cecilia retorted. “How do you know he didn’t go to Tennessee to warn me about something? Did you even bother to ask? Did you?”
“You were there, Cecilia,” Finn replied impatiently. “Of course I didn’t ask. I didn’t have to. The man’s obsessed with you. He wants to mate with you. I’m going to talk to Tanner, tell him to tell the king that if Samuel asks permission to hold a mating ceremony again, he’s to say no.”
“What do you mean, again?”
Finn shook his head. “He’s already tried once. You’re lucky I was there, or else your uncle probably would have caved and said yes. What the hell would you do without me constantly saving your ass?”
“Uncle Sander would never have mated us without me agreeing to it, and I wouldn’t have,” Cecilia protested. “I would have managed just fine without you.”
“Yeah, right.” Finn snorted and turned away from her to stride across the snow-covered lawn toward the beach house.
“I can manage my own life,” Cecilia reiterated as she chased after him.
Finn snorted again.
“If I want to mate with Samuel, I will.”
Finn abruptly stopped walking. Cecilia wasn’t expecting it, so she barreled into his back. “You want to mate with Samuel?” he asked, his voice sounding strangled.
“Of course not,” Cecilia said indignantly. “How many times do I have to tell you? I don’t wish to mate with anyone.”
Finn felt the surge of relief flow through his system. Strange that it was mingled with disappointment.
“He’s sneaky, Cecilia. And he won’t give up. He wants you, and he intends to have you, whatever it takes.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Finnegan. Samuel and I talked, just the other day. He is no more interested in mating than I am.”
And on and on they argued, all the way into the house, down the hall, and into the breakfast room, where they found Tanner and his mother, and Olivia and her parents enjoying a pleasant, quiet dinner.
Until Cecilia and Finn showed up.
“Do you two ever stop arguing?” Tanner snapped at one point.
“We should,” Finn replied. “There’s nothing left to argue about.”
“There most certainly is,” Cecilia replied. As it turned out, there was.
* * * *
Samuel showed up at the beach house the next day. Tanner and Finn were out, helping with a structural issue with one of the barns that housed a fair number of the Lightbearers’ horses. With winter nipping at their heels, they had to ensure the livestock was protected against the elements.
A servant escorted Samuel into the main sitting room and then sought out Cecilia, who met him there. She hesitated in the doorway, Finn’s angry warnings echoing in her head. Finn was wrong…wasn’t he?
Even if he wasn’t, so what? She was her own person. She could handle an overzealous suitor, if that was what Samuel turned out to be. She didn’t need Finn to fight her battles. She didn’t want Finn to fight her battles.
Samuel gave her a nervous smile when she stepped into the room. “I wasn’t certain you would see me,” he admitted as he paced back and forth behind the couch.
“Why did you go to Tennessee, Samuel?”
“Why did yo
u?” he shot back.
Cecilia almost sighed. Everyone kept asking her that question. She still didn’t want to admit that she had been afraid Finn intended to stay there. Why that idea had frightened her so much was something she simply refused to contemplate.
“Would you like a drink?” she asked as she waved at the bar set up in the corner.
Samuel pointed at the couch. “Sit. Please,” he added. “I’ll get our drinks.”
She dropped onto the couch. Samuel appeared a moment later, holding a glass of burgundy wine in each hand. He offered one to Cecilia. She accepted it and took a sip, then wrinkled her nose.
“It has a funny aftertaste. The bottle must be bad.”
Samuel took a sip from his glass. “It tastes fine to me. Swirl it to aerate it, and then try it again.”
She twisted the stem of the wine glass, swirling the dark liquid before trying another sip. “Better,” she admitted.
“Who were all those shifters?” he asked as they sat together and drank wine.
“Finn’s family. That was his sister’s house. His parents live within the same pack, a few blocks away. The younglings were his nephews.”
“You went to meet his family?” Samuel sounded appalled.
Cecilia lifted the glass and took a fortifying drink. Had that been an ulterior motive? Had she been that curious about his personal life, the family he once sacrificed so much for, yet had refused to visit for the last four months, simply because Tanner had directed him to watch over her? Pinpricks of guilt stabbed at her. If she would simply give up her wanderlust, Finn would be free to visit his family as often as he liked. Even move there, if he so chose. She assumed Finn had returned with her and Dane due to his obligation to her, but what if she promised to be good, stopped trying to leave the coterie?
Would he return to his family in Tennessee?
Cecilia shuddered and took another hefty drink.
“I was so worried about you,” Samuel said, pulling her from her thoughts. “I have never been outside the coterie, so I had no idea what to expect.”
“It really isn’t so bad, is it?” Cecilia commented. Her voice sounded odd and her head felt fuzzy. She blinked at her wineglass. It was still half-full, yet she felt as if she’d consumed four or five glasses.
